A Rot In The Bud
by Wisteria666
Summary: Sequel to Winter in the Graveyard- Amber calls in Graverobber's debt, sending him through the City's underbelly in an attempt to keep Rotti's final experiment from destroying GeneCo. Warning: Language, blood, and gore.
1. Chapter 1

_Blood roared in my ears, drowning out the sound of my boots on the hardwood floor. My harsh breathing burned my lungs, and I bit back a moan of fear. The house, usually warm and welcoming, felt like a death trap, and I wanted nothing more than to escape. Somewhere behind me, that dark creature, that blood-stained monster waited, watching, listening for me to make a mistake. I could feel his evil presence crawling on my skin like insects. I had to flee, had to hide._

_Doors flew past as I ran through the mansion's labyrinthine halls, the shadow covered walls closing in around me. A moonlit window offered false hope; I knew it was nailed shut. Breaking the glass would only alert the demon to my location. With a last hungry glance at the thin, colored glass, I turned a corner, skidding on the loose runner covering this area of the floor. Clouds of dust enveloped me and I hit the wall hard, jarring my shoulder. A bolt of pain shot through my side where two thick scars marred my pale skin, and I fell to my knees in momentary agony. Fighting through the pain, I struggled to my feet and stumbled through the nearest door. Momentarily blind in the pitch black room, I pressed my back against the door and waited for my eyes to adjust, willing my breathing to slow. _

_Slowly I made out the vague shape of a large bed, thin poles reaching to the high ceiling. Darting across the room, I shoved aside the heavy tapestries and rolled under the bed. Thick dust tickled my nose, and I held my breath, waiting, listening for the footsteps that would signal my bloody, agonizing end..._

oooOOOooo

The tall, dark-skinned gentleman and the petite, pale young woman listened to the heavy thuds coming from the floor above them, and calmly sipped their tea.

"I do believe that last one was your young man rolling under a bed," Eliezer Gregoire said, reaching for a pastry.

"I really wish he'd get over his irrational fear of you," Shilo Wallace replied with an irritated shrug. Eliezer chuckled.

"Perhaps not so irrational for one such as he," he pointed out. His voice was deep and rich and sent warm vibrations up her spine. "I and my colleagues are GeneCo's creatures, after all, and though we may be repomen, we do as Amber Sweet commands. If a procurer of Zydrate were to go missing, well, it would not be the first time. Your Graverobber is fortunate to have the lady's favor, fickle though it may be."

"Is Amber cracking down on dealers again?" Shilo asked sharply. It was Eliezer's turn to shrug, a delicate lifting of his thin shoulder.

"There are a few who have been attempting to rise above their station," he said. "Amber does not mind an enterprising soul here and there, so long as they are discreet. Some, though, have adulterated the drug in an attempt to strengthen it, or add other effects. All they have managed to do is kill their clients, and such poison related to Zydrate reflects badly upon GeneCo. Thus, Ms. Sweet sends us out to make examples of the fools." He took another sip of his tea. "They are no great loss to society."

Absent the white face paint and cane, the man sitting across the kitchen table from Shilo looked like nothing more than well dressed gentleman, sophisticated in speech and manner. Very few knew him as the Baron, head of GeneCo's repomen. The Baron had saved Shilo and Graverobber sixteen months previously from a renegade repoman out for Shilo's head, among other body parts. Since then, she had struck up a deep friendship with the hired killers.

"I suppose not," she said, then sighed at the heavy sneezing coming from above. "I did mean to vacuum that room last week."

She began to pour herself another cup of tea when her wrist communicator activated.

"Shilo, it's Amber." The light, purring voice, a kitten with a mouth full of poisonous cream, had an unexpected edge to it, and Shilo frowned.

"I'm here," she replied. "Is something wrong?"

"No, of course not."

"Alright then. What's up?"

"That deadbeat drug dealer of yours isn't answering his comm bracelet. Tell him to meet me at GeneCo in an hour. No excuses, or I'll send my girls to fetch him. I know how much he loves my girls."

The comm bracelet shut off with a soft hiss, and Shilo blinked.

"Well, that was unusual," she said. "Usually she just shows up here to get her fix."

"This may not have anything to do with her habit," Eliezer said, setting his teacup down gently. "There have been rumors lately. Rumors that GeneCo has been working on something new, something very secret. Not even I have been able to ascertain what it is Ms. Sweet is doing deep underground. Has she said nothing to you?"

"No," Shilo replied, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "This is the first I've heard of anything."

"Be you cautious, child," Eliezer warned. "Never forget just how dangerous Ms. Sweet truly is. Take care that whatever she is involved in does not prey upon you. I fear not even your protector, such as he is, could keep you from harm." He drained his cup and stood. "I shall come again next week. Tell your, er, gentleman that I am sorry to have missed him. I'm sure I shall catch up to him soon."

He gave Shilo a quick kiss on her cheek. "By-the-by," he added. "Norris is in ecstasy over the modifications you made to his bangstick. The second barrel with the anesthetic/paralytic darts was a clever, merciful idea. In our line of work, it is easy to forget mercy."

oooOOOooo

A few minutes after the Baron took his leave, I crept down the stairs.

"I wish you'd get over your fear of Eliezer and the other guys," the kid said crossly. "They're almost family now."

"Yeah, family that'll gut you without thinking twice if the price is right," I muttered, brushing dust balls from my shirt. Shilo tossed my battered leather coat at me.

"Amber wants you at GeneCo," she said, ignoring my comment. "Whatever she wants, she's impatient about it. Get going before her bodyguards show up here. Again."

I twitched at the mention of Amber's henchbroads. My meetings with them never seem to end well for me, for some reason. Unbelievably, there are some women who are immune to my charm.

I tucked a little glass vial of Zydrate into a hidden coat pocket, and pulled Shilo to me. She wrapped her arms around me and kissed me deeply before pushing me toward the door.

"Wish me luck, kid," I said, and slipped into the underground tunnel.

"Try not to piss her off this time!" Shilo called after me.

Yeah, like that was at all likely.


	2. Chapter 2

I hitched a ride on the back of a removal truck heading downtown. The bodies sharing the truck with me were fresh and were positively covered in old surgical scars. The Zydrate found in their brains would be potent as hell, and my hands itched for the feel of an extraction needle punching through the nasal bone. I regretted leaving my harvesting kit at home, but I couldn't exactly show up at GeneCo with my gear on me. Being Amber's personal guest didn't exempt me from pat downs, or on one memorable occasion, a full-out cavity search. Pro tip, kids, don't get mouthy with GeneCo security.

The night air was cold and clean, and I leaned back and watched the city lights play against the smog and low-lying clouds overhead. We rarely got stars in the city; too much light pollution, but I've been told they're a sight to see outside the city limits. I wouldn't know. I've never been across the bridge leading to the mainland. The plague wiped out a lot of the population, and left wide swaths of empty land between occupied cities, so there's not much reason to leave. Not unless you enjoy fighting with big-ass wild animals, crazy hillbillies, and the odd religious cult. There's also the fear that the plague may still be lying dormant in some of those abandoned, body-strewn towns.

The sounds of traffic gridlock signaled my stop, and I jumped off just outside Sanatarium Square. The bright lights of chic eateries and exclusive boutiques glittered against the damp pavement, and unnaturally beautiful people talked a little too fast and laughed a little too loudly. Sanitarium Square was the place to see and be seen, and over it all loomed the GeneCo building. Ducking my head, I scuttled away from the lights and sounds, and headed for the side of the building. As massive as GeneCo was, it was a long walk to the rear entrance, but it was worth it to avoid the photographers camped at the front doors.

I hopped the chain link fence cutting off the loading docks from the employee parking lot, and slipped quickly into the shadows. My well honed sense of all things Not Quite Right was screaming at me to get my Zydrate dealing ass out of there. My eyes darted from shadow to shadow, trying to place the source of my unease. It finally occurred to me that the loading docks were far too quiet. Aside from the monster crickets screeching at each other like broken violins, and the distant rumble of traffic, the docks were silent. GeneCo is a 24/7 business, and the trucks never stop bringing bodies in for product testing and shipping them out for disposal. Supplies are delivered, and slightly shop-soiled organs sent out to authorized clinics. The flurry of activity never ceases under those sulphur-yellow lamps, but tonight there was not a person to be seen; only the hand-length cockroaches that fed on discarded and over-looked medical waste hurried about their business. Whatever was going on here didn't need to involve me.

I was backing away from the docks and heading for the fence, when a pointed cough came from the loading platform. Luigi Largo stepped out of the darkness and glared at me. Orange light flared as he lit a cigarette. He took a deep drag and turned his attention back to me.

"Took you long enough," he snarled. "Move your ass. Amber's waiting."

Despite the early spring cold, Luigi wasn't wearing a coat. In fact, his shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and the bastard was still sweating. As I moved closer, I spotted a slight tremor in his hands. I often kept an eye on those hands whenever I had to deal with the guy. They were usually carrying something sharp. He ran a hand nervously through his slicked back hair, and I fought the urge to run. Anything that had the Man of a Thousand Knives spooked was something I didn't want to encounter.

"You gonna stand there all night?" he snapped, and stormed off toward the entry doors. I hung back a second, then cursed. It wasn't like I really had a choice in the matter.

I followed Luigi through the entrance and past the various warehouse doors. Despite Luigi's impatience, I took the time to look through each door window. Who knew when I'd get a chance like this again, alive anyway?

In one room, large breasted and short skirted Genterns inventoried shelves of preserved organs. Frost etched fern-like patterns on the glass jars, and cold fog crawled along the concrete floor, but the Genterns didn't seem to notice. I wondered about that until one woman looked over at me with cold, white eyes, and I decided not to think about it anymore. I have too many nightmares as it is. Another room was lined with black plastic sheeting and held only one bloodstained chair and several hanging meat hooks. I scurried past that one, too. Another window looked into a crude operating room. Three gore covered surgeons worked on three different patients. One of the surgeons handed his waiting Gentern a bloody silicone implant, which she promptly tossed into a transplant cooler.

"Voluntary surrenders," Luigi called from down the hall. "Can't make your payments, and don't want the repoman showing up at your door? We'll take the parts back here. Can't guarantee you'll survive, but at least you're out cold when it happens. Amber's idea." He crushed his cigarette beneath his heel.

A fourth room held two rows of autopsy tables, each occupied by a seemingly undamaged corpse. My breath caught as I recognized two identical Asian girls, still dressed in tattered pink tutus and ragged tinsel halos.

"What-" I managed to choke out.

"Overdoses," Luigi shrugged impatiently. "Getting more and more of those. Junkies wanting a bigger thrill go looking for the latest designer stuff, not realizing it's cheap Zydrate mixed with Angel Ash, formaldehyde, or necroshrooms. Our techs harvest the organs, flush 'em out, and send them off to the clinics for transplant. Toss what's left in the pits."

I decided to avoid the pauper's pits for a while, until I could face coming across the twins. I hadn't seen them in a few days. Now I knew why.

I headed for the elevator, but Luigi grabbed the back of my coat and steered me away. I may be bigger, but he's better armed, so I let him manhandle me, despite the slight blow to my masculinity. I mean, I have a few surprises hidden away on me, but I can actually hear the guy clink as he moves. He pushed me through an unmarked door and into a small, empty room. I pulled away and faced him, tensing as I waited for im to attack. He just sneered at me and locked the door.

"Moron," he said disdainfully. "Amber's made it clear that you're off-limits for now, and for some reason Shi's into you. So settle your ass down, or we may have ourselves an 'accident'."

He pressed his hand to a glass panel on the wall, and the floor began to descend. I lost my balance, and stumbled, falling to my knees. I waited for Luigi to mock me for that, but he seemed lost in thought. I stayed crouched and watched the ceiling fall away. We were dropping quickly, and the only reason I wasn't trying to climb the walls out of sheer terror was that my curiosity had been piqued. Something big had happened, something that would undoubtedly make me regret my involvement, but I wanted to know what it was. I also wanted to know how the Largos had managed to keep an underground lair a secret in this city.

THe floor finally came to a halt with a bump that knocked me back on my ass. Luigi tried to smirk at me, but his heart, or what passes for one, wasn't in it. He shoved the door open and stalked out. I picked myself up and ran after him.

The underground lair wasn't what I was expecting. I had a half-formed vision of concrete floors, damp, fungus covered walls, maybe some flickering florescent lights overhead. And a hunchback. What? Every evil lair needs an Igor.

What I didn't expect was a neo-Victorian bedroom. Cream and shell pink striped wallpaper, dark green ceiling, glass wall sconces throwing off soft light. A fireplace with a real fire stood in one corner, and a tall wooden wardrobe stood in another. Plenty of hand-stitched chairs and hand-painted tea cups on tiny wooden tables.

The only thing out of place was the medical equipment. Now, I'm no surgeon, but I've been around and I can identify most of what's commonly used, if only to know what I can get at a pawn shop for it. Besides the ventilator and the IV stand, I didn't recognize a thing in that room. Wall mounted cameras pointed at an empty spot in the midst of it, and deep scratches in the hardwood floor told me a bed used to be there. Now, there was only Amber Sweet. Her spike heels were loud in the silent room as she paced back and forth, and her hands were balled into fists. I tried to back out of the room- hey, I know when Amber's in a mood, and they usually end with someone bleeding- but Luigi moved to block my way. Amber smiled coldly at me.

"Graverobber," she purred, licking her lips. "Time to pay for that new liver."


End file.
